www.lightingandsoundamerica.com September 2018

$10.00

Metallica The WorldWired Tour

ALSO:

Dave Matthews Band

A New Take on Gounod’s Faust

Area Four Industries

DPA d:vote CORE 4099

SGM G-Profile Turbo

High End Systems SolaFrame 750 Copyright Lighting &Sound America September 2018 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html CONCERTS Copyright Lighting &Sound America September 2018 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

70 • September 2018 • Lighting &Sound America ’S CUBIST PERIOD The classic metal band tries a new look featuring plenty of video

By: Sharon Stancavage

an Braun, production designer for Metallica’s WorldWired Tour , says that he took his cue from the drummer, , who asked for something “next-level,” a request that took the band—which routinely brings fans new and exciting productions—in an unexpected direction. “It’s aD very different Metallica show than has ever been out there before,” says production manager John “Lug” Zajonc. “It’s more technologically driven. In the past, they’ve done some amazing shows, but this is more sophisticated and artistic.” Braun found inspiration in the world of art. The video cubes that are such a striking feature of the design, he says, “came out of an industrial architectural sculpture in an building. I was fascinated by the way it jux - taposed light and shape in lines and cubes and boxes. I thought, I could do that with those little light panels, but then we wouldn’t get any light on the stage.” Then another art project, this on in , came into the design - er’s view. “It had cubes, in a ceiling, that were color- changing. It was everything I wanted to do, except the cubes didn’t move. I started playing with sizes, weights, what we would do with them, and how we would get illu - mination on the band.” An arrangement of moving video cubes wasn’t the only concept in play, Braun says: “A Metallica show is really n n

a half-band, half-audience and to me—and I think to the m r a

L band—we’re striving for a creative situation where the h p l a energy of the band comes into the audience where it gets R

: s

o amplified and goes back to the band. They become ener - t o h

P gized, amplify that, and send it back to the audience. To

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • September 2018 • 71 CONCERTS

me, that cycle is a Metallica show.” Video Although Metallica has played in-the-round before, this The set design features 52 video cubes, 36 of them on a isn’t a typical example of that configuration. “The concept TAIT Navigator motion control system. The cubes feature of the stage/height/size/positioning is all about intimacy,” ROE CB5 panels, provided by the office of Braun says. “We’re trying to make it feel like everyone is PRG, on four sides. Braun explains, “The top is open and sitting in the band’s rehearsal room, garage, or practice handles the kinetic motion equipment and cable manage - area, and everyone has a front-row seat.” Eliminating the ment, and underneath hangs Robe BMFL WashBeams.” barrier between the band and audience was a challenge, Zajonc says: “The 16 cubes that don’t move need to be however: “I worked hard to reposition the support techni - tested before they go up, because they’re hard to reach.” cians around the stage so there is minimal equipment Fortunately, he adds, “The product we have is very reliable, between the band and the crowd.” and we don’t see a lot of attrition. Our video crew also does Other crew members were affected by this layout, a very good job of inspecting everything before it flies.” Braun notes: “We have a great pair of monitor engineers, Movement, along with weight, is a daily challenge. Bob Cowan and Adam Correia, and they’re mixing remote - Braun notes: “The show is big and heavy, and that has ly, using video monitors, on the loading dock.” Also, there been Lug and Chad Koehler—our head rigger—figuring are no manned cameras to block the audience’s view. out how to make it work. When you’re moving things that “The level of collaboration and cooperation from every sin - are heavy, if you hit an emergency stop, there is a dynamic gle member of the crew was amazing,” he adds. “It wasn’t load issue. Lug and Chad are crushing it; they worked without some bumps, but, ultimately, we’re all pushing in through it in an amazing way.” Zajonc adds, “The show is one direction: to make the best possible show.” 170,000lb static and 220,000lb with the dynamic loads The stage, fabricated by Lititz, Pennsylvania-based TAIT taken into account, with 168 rigging points. I think it’s the is low. “It’s 44' square, 52" and it’s spun, off-axis, 45° from 60 two-ton motors that upset everybody.” Rigging is pro - what you’d do traditionally,” Zajonc says. “In the stadium vided by Five Points Production Services, based in Bell shows, our stage is 200' wide and 40' deep, so this is a Buckle, Tennessee. much more intimate space for them to play in. It gives Braun continues: “One thing that became apparent as them a chance to interact with each other and not have to we were messing with the cubes is that, if we could make run long distances.” The stage layout also includes four this work, every seat would be a unique view. As you prop lifts. move around the arena, you’re looking at different screen

Flames and pyro are two of the special effects provided by Pyrotek.

72 • September 2018 • Lighting &Sound America The cubes pose a rigging challenge, due to their weight and the fact that they're automated.

surfaces. That’s part of the magic of the show.” Content designer/director Rob Koenig collaborated closely. “This creation was by KPX Video. Braun also brought along Scott production was done differently from how we’re used to Holthaus, production designer for Red Hot Chili Peppers, working,” Koenig says. “Really and truly, the set—which is as art director. “For the video content people and my live the videos cubes—is everything. When Dan put this on the imagining people, it’s a nightmare,” Braun says. The night - table, he had already conceived placing a fixture on the mare deals with, among other things, routing images to dif - inside bottom of each cube. There aren’t many places to ferent sides of each cube, which may or may not be mov - put anything else, as the show is in-the-round, and a lot of ing at different times. “It became apparent very quickly buildings have weight limits when you’re talking about how difficult this was going to be, but no one said, ‘We hanging center ice. Those weight limits are typically tied to can’t do this.’ They said, ‘Okay, let’s think about this a little center scoreboards and with LED panels. A lot of thought bit,’ and got down to it.” Video is controlled using two dis - went into how we were going to pull this off.” guise gx 2 media servers. Aside from the cubes, the area over the band is stream - The production also includes 16 robotic cameras. lined. “There isn’t a traditional piece of lighting truss in the “Manned cameras would interfere between the band and building,” Braun says. “Some trusses handle cable man - audience,” Braun notes. “All of that is run away from the agement and we’ve hung lights on them for convenience, stage.” There are 12 Panasonic PTZ cameras and four AJA but there are no lighting trusses per se.” Video RovoCams, directed by Gene McAuliffe. To light the stage, Koenig chose the Robe BMFL WashBeam. “It’s incredibly fast for a fixture of that size,” he Lighting says. “It’s the best large-format hybrid fixture on the mar - “This show is designed cohesively, so that everything ket, in my opinion. It’s a great spot luminaire, a great wash works together,” Braun says. Similarly, he and lighting light, the pan/tilt motors are incredibly accurate, and

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • September 2018 • 73 CONCERTS

The drones from Verity Studios make an appearance over the stage during “.”

the color rendering is fantastic. I don’t have enough good thing is. As soon as I saw Dan’s renderings, which he things to say about it.” worked out with Tait, I knew this was the direction we As previously mentioned, one BMFL WashBeam resides would have to go: I take a light, point it at a stage marker, under each cube. “Tait built us a mounting system that and whether a cube is 52' in the air or 16' off the floor, the hangs the light at the bottom of each cube,” Koenig says. light points at the stage marker. The current system takes “There are 52 cubes and 52 Robe WashBeams. To keep approximately two hours per day to focus.” the lights stable, they put an RSC Lightlock [motion damp - Audience lighting is provided by 44 TMB Solaris Flares. ener] inside each cube.” Overall, 60 BMFL WashBeams are “The band really likes a lot to see a lot of audience,” found in the main grid; the others are located on various Koenig says, “Especially when in-the-round, you have to trusses used for cable management. make sure you cover everywhere. We’re taking everything Because the BMFLs are physically tied to the cubes, at oblique angles to make sure that audience light comes focusing could have presented a problem. However, from the sides, so that while staring at the band they’re Koenig says, “We utilize the stage marker system in the being lit, but not being blinded.” [MA Lighting] grandMA2 system attached to each cube so On the floor, Koenig says, “We have 16 GLP JDC1 that, as Michael ‘Kilty’ Petite [automation crew chief and [hybrid strobes], and eight SGM Q-7s [LED flood blind operator] moves the cubes during the day, every light strobes]. A Q-7 uplights each mic position. We also have knows where it is in 3D space. We also have markers on three [Martin by Harman] MAC Quantum Profiles behind the stage and in the house, so I’m not focusing the our esteemed drummer.” The JDC1s were a late addition: WashBeams on a daily basis as much as focusing the “We originally had [Martin] Atomics and Q-7s on the floor, markers. The positioning comes through Tait Navigator, by and some movers, too, but the stage floor was becoming way of Art-Net, and the stage markers read where every - overly crowded with gear. There are audio wedges, wah

74 • September 2018 • Lighting &Sound America and volume pedals, remote cameras, and drone transpon - we have 20 BMFLs on that system. Eight fixtures are ders, so we needed to condense to achieve a clean look. placed on the interior side of the cube grid for truss spot At the last minute, GLP showed us the JDC1. PGP positions, and an additional 12 are placed at the far end of [Premier Global Productions], based in Nashville, the the cable bridge truss. I’d say the truss spots get utilized show’s lighting vendor, immediately purchased them for as the cubes get a workout during the show.” the tour. The JDC1 is a great little light; it does everything Programming was done by Troy Eckerman and Joe you want them to do, and GLP has been very responsive Cabrera. “The reasons we had two programmers? in terms of helping us update software to get more of what Availability and technology. When we started, we knew we we want to see out of the fixture.” would have very limited on-site production time. We were Followspots use the Spotrack 3D tracking system, an basically ending in Canada with the stadium tour, while the Irish product that, Koenig says, is an integral part of the gear was being shipped over immediately, and we were show: “We needed consistency in angle and distance from only going to have six days between the arena in Canada the spotlight positions, primarily due to the travel path and and the arena in Europe. There’s no way to cue a Metallica distance of the cubes. Trying to use a single light/operator show in that short amount of time. During breaks on our system would not have worked, because backstage and stadium tour, I would pre-viz with Troy. Then we brought in corridor space would be limited in most EU arenas. Joe; he’s great on all fronts, particularly the technology Premier Global was beginning a relationship with Spotrack side. Joe was able to implement—with Michael Petite, and wanted to see if it was viable. We used it on the US from Tait—everything into the console, so that, for 95% of stadium tour, and they were very quick with tech support, the show, the lighting console drives the cubes.” writing new code and jumping through a lot of hoops to Typically, a Metallica show is done in shades of white, make it work for this type of show. There is nothing better with complements of saturated colors. However, Koenig to see than a Metallica show, if your equipment is going to says, “On this one we wanted to go with more monochro - make it! They have done very well by us and made sure matic looks. It’s something that, in the history of the band, we have everything we need.” has rarely been done. The stage surface is white, so we The Spotrack system, Koenig says, consists of “a com - went with a monochromatic color palette, affording a lot puter with a camera over the stage that our guys calibrate more saturates.” during the day; the operator has a mouse and he tracks For Koenig, “The biggest challenge was going into a the band members that way. Every station has one com - show where our fixture count is rather small for an arena puter and five lights tied to it, assigned to a band member; show. What I really liked was that it took me back to basics. I felt constricted at first, but it’s so cool to have those limitations; instead of throwing light with limitless possibilities, you plan out the programming. We had no choice but to be very specific in etching out what we wanted to accomplish for each song.”

Drones and more Tait—specifically, chief creative officer Adam Davis—also had a hand in another aspect of the show. “James [Hetfield, lead vocalist] has wanted to use drones for a long time,” Braun says, adding that Davis referred him to drone provider Verity Studios, based in Zurich, Switzerland. “I said, ‘Adam, you can’t tell me about them if they’re not going to work. If I show them to James, I can’t back out of it.’ So, we did some animations, looked at the drones, and, at some point, took a leap of faith.” The Verity drones “have been good; the product is able to do what they wanted it to in a safe manner in the inside and have been very consistent,” Zajonc says. “They have very small, encapsulated fan motors; they’re probably about the size of your hand and they weigh very little. It’s all GPS-positioned and based upon markers that set the limitations and tell the drones where they are; they’re cali - brated every day to their exact environment. We set up a To keep the band’s connection to the audience, band techni - cians were repositioned around the low-profile TAIT stage. grid for them to fly within; it’s a very complex program.” If

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • September 2018 • 75 CONCERTS

a drone goes out of its zone, it simply falls to the stage. it’s more about the tone and volume than that cool little The drones, which emerge, through pockets, from under reverb, especially with the nature of this music.” the stage, only fly over the band. “Rules and regulations in He adds, “I’ve started using Waves MaxxBCL. It’s a America control where they can fly, safe operating dis - mastering thing with a Renaissance compressor on it. It tances, drone zones, so on,” Zajonc says. “We were the first has an L2 [ultramaximizer peak limiter] and MaxxBass, to do it in Europe, so there’s no code, no inspectors, which which creates this psychoacoustic low-end thing. It’s very worked to our advantage. We were in one venue, and they clever.” Externally, he uses a Rackman audio rack. “I have said, ‘Nothing can fly over the head of the audience.’ I a small [TC Electronic] D-TWO delay unit. I could do it in looked up and there was a small blimp. I said, ‘What’s the the console; it’s a bit of a throwback from the analog days difference between that and ours? We’re not flying them when I dabble around. I also have a Korg DRV-3000 [dual over the public’s heads.’ And they lost their argument.” digital effects processor], and I actually buy the spares off Before integrating the 108 drones that swarm during the eBay for 100 quid; it’s the only piece of gear I’ve found song “Moth into Flame,” Zajonc did his own safety test: that I can program to do the ‘’ effects, “Before we put the band with them, I personally stood on which is like a pitch down when the vocal repeats, ‘Master, the drum kit to see what it was like. If you don’t experi - master, master.’ I tried the Eventide H3000 and the H4000 ence something, how can you speak to how it feels or how and you’d think it would be able to do that, but I’ve never it works? I intentionally let a couple run into me, and you successfully programmed them.” Currently, he has six don’t feel anything.” Korg DRV-3000s. “They won’t be around much longer, so I Braun says, “They are fascinating, they work well, and have to grab them while I can,” he adds. they are safe. The biggest thing for me is that the Verity confides: “We don’t have as many micro - guys have been able to deliver them in workable solution. phones as we used to.” One reason is that the guitars now When they appear, it’s a show-stopping moment.” use Fractal modeling amps, which are DIs. “They’re work - In addition, the tour features audio effects (see below) ing fantastically, and it’s so easy with them. The backline and some pyro. “There’s not a lot of room under the stage guys love them, and they give us a load of flexibility.” for anything more,” Braun says. “We have some flames On drums, “We were using DPA [d:vote] 4099s on the and ‘’ has some legacy cues.” Zajonc tom-toms and overheads. I’ve just changed them to the adds: “All of our pyro is built into our stage, so there are new DPA [d:vote] CORE 4099s, and I’m impressed with specific moments where the band has to make sure they the change. [See the review on page 92]. I don’t know are not near those areas.” All of the above are provided by what they’ve done to them; they look the same as the old Markham, Ontario-based Pyrotek Special Effects. ones, but they certainly don’t sound the same. They’re much fuller-sounding.” On the kick, he has an Audix D6 Sound and Shure Beta 91. On the snare top is “an old Audio- Handling audio duties at the front of house is the leg - Technica ATM23HE and Audio-Technica ATM450 side fire endary “Big” Mick Hughes. “I’ve been with them for 34 condenser; on snare bottom, it’s also an ATM450. We use years,” he says. “I started in November 1984. We’ve grown a side fire on the hi-hat as well; I really like the way the up together. I was 26 when I started with them, and the 450 sounds.” On vocals, he’s using “Shure Super 55s; guys were 20 and 21.” these are the big square ones. They’ve been around forev - In terms of mixing the band, Big Mick notes: “Every one er, and we use a ton of them.” of them contributes their portion to each part of the song, The tour features a massive Meyer Sound PA, owned by and as long as I can assemble those portions to the cor - Metallica and managed through UltraSound, based in rect volumes and tones, the overall outcome is Metallica. Martinez, California. “The show is in-the-round, so the You’re trying to capture the essence of the band, and brief was that we get everything heavy out of the center that’s done with a variety of things, from the tonality of the out of the venue,” Big Mick says. “As much as we would guitars to the volume and how you assemble the mix.” have normally gone in a little tighter to the middle, we To accomplish the latter, Big Mick has a Midas XL8 couldn’t. We had to expand it outwards, which we did, and console. “I can’t think of anything else to use,” he says. it’s been very successful.” “I’ve looked at lots of other desks, and this is perfect for For the PA design, Big Mick turned to Bob McCarthy, of what I want to do. It’s basically a digital version of my Meyer Sound: “Bob literally wrote the book on audio. He’s a XL4.” The XL8 has been discontinued; however, he is very smart guy, and the design we needed had to be very unconcerned: “We own two, which will, hopefully, see me smart.” McCarthy designed a near field system. “We wanted to my retirement.” to do a near field experience anyway, as opposed to being At the front of house, Big Mick’s setup is streamlined. at the mercy of everybody listening to the horrible acoustics “Midas doesn’t run external plug-ins,” he says. “I only use in some of these venues,” Big Mick adds. “So, the thing is their internal stuff. I’ve always opted to keep things simple; to move the speakers closer to the people in the near field,

76 • September 2018 • Lighting &Sound America Attached to Ulrich’s drum kit are microphones from Audix, Audio-Technica, DPA, and Shure.

as opposed to the far field. And that’s working out for us LEOPARDs. Each of those eight hangs is six cabinets.” pretty well. It allows me to run at a lower volume; I’m doing “There is an extension PA for the upper balcony,” com - about 100dB, a-weighted, I aim for 99 volume dBa for the prised of four hangs of five delays. BIg Mick notes. whole show, which is more comfortable.” “These are meant to cover the area above the main Leo On the short sides of the venue—where hockey goals hangs, so they are treated as ‘upper mains,’ in a way,” would be located—“There are four hangs: two on each end Initially, Big Mick says, “We did have another twenty- for a total of 40 LEO [line arrays],” explains systems engi - four 1100-LFC subs around the perimeter of the stage, but neer Thomas Lyon. Big Mick adds: “We need the coverage they made the stage vibrate too much, so we had to get up to the barricade from the Leo. We only make the Leo do rid of them.” Lyon adds, “James [Hetfield] is sensitive to the lower portion of the arena, and we take care of the extra sub frequencies, and we’re trying everything in our book of height with LYON cabinets, moved closer to the people and tricks to appease as much as possible, but still have that the upper balcony. On stage left and stage right, which are low-frequency energy we need to make a Metallica show.” shorter throws, there are left/right hangs of 15-deep Lyon; Four hangs of subs are “flown in a staggered end-fire they’re a mix of Lyon Ms and Lyon Ws to cover lower in the configuration, which is three columns of three, and they’re rig and wider. On the downstage hangs are two LEOs; at stepped behind each other,” Big Mick says. “We staggered the stage left hang are two Lyon. In the upstage hang, there them by having each column going lower than the last are two Leos, and on the stage-right hang are two .” one, and that steers the image down a little bit, which “The arrays only cover a certain distance from the gives us coverage on the floor.” Lyon adds: “Each sub stage,” Lyon says, “so we have smaller speakers basically hang has three stacks; each stack has nine cabinets in pointing straight down and covering under those mains to each array. They stagger downwards about 2' per stack or the edge of the stage. There are eight hangs of so. They are delayed in a manner in which the one closest

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • September 2018 • 77 CONCERTS

Underneath each cube is a Robe WashBeam, stabilized by RSC Lightlocks.

to the stage has no delay, and the next one is delayed Pyro just goes clatter; you never really get a boom out of compared to the one behind it, which makes a pattern that pyro, so it’s difficult to get a deep bass explosion, espe - skews the sub energy away from the stage. There are 36 cially when it reflects around the arena. We started firing total subs in the air. That’s quite a bit and we probably these low-frequency effects with the pyro in order for it to should have more; it’s enough to do what we have to for fire in sequence, and to give us the complete picture. Then Metallica, but it probably should be more for Big Mick’s we found out that concussions worked well on their own taste.” Overall, there are approximately 60 sound hangs; too; so, we do some of that too.” each using two to three rigging points. The VLFCs “are triggered on a sampler,” Big Mick says. If that wasn’t enough PA, there’s more in the form of a “We have a low-frequency explosion which is enhanced cabinet Meyer released last year; Metallica is the first band and is connected via MIDI to the lighting console; our light - to use it for special effects. Big Mick says: “We have the ing guy actually fires them, to fit in with a lighting effect.” VLFCs [Very Low Frequency Control], which are ultra-low At the end of the day, Braun emphasizes that this pro - subs that go down to 13 cycles. They do 13Hz to 30Hz, duction is a group effort: “No one does this alone. The and we only use them for explosions and the intro to the people working on it on a day-to-day basis are living with song ‘One.’ We put them in the corners, pointing to the it and maintaining it, so the audience has an incredible middle; we tried them around the stage but, once again, experience. We can take all the cubes in the world, but the problem of the vibration comes around; it’s just they won’t make the difference; it’s a great band, they’re vicious.” There are 12 VLFCs in each corner of the great friends, they are great to work with, and their fan arena. Big Mick continues: “We wanted another sensory base is incredible. Metallica gave us the opportunity to do experience; that was the brief behind it. We wanted to cre - something special and I think it turned out pretty cool.” ate some kind concussion effect that didn’t rely on pyro.

78 • September 2018 • Lighting &Sound America